With the Fringe and International Festivals soon approaching, this topic is being split to accomodate posts for the different companys. General news on any of the Festivals should be posted here, but articles or posts about specific companies and performances during the Fringe should go in the appropriate forum below:

Thu 10 Feb 2005 Cuts to the programme of opera, music and dance may damage the event's status.

BRIAN FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL REPORTER EDINBURGH International Festival organisers today warned they are facing a financial crisis which threatens to seriously damage this year’s event.

Festival organisers said they would have to make dramatic cuts to their programme of opera, music and dance because of a £600,000 black hole in the event’s funding, which amounts to almost ten per cent of its £7.5 million budget.

No official news has been released about dance companies, but the schedule indicates 'Christopher Wheeldon' for the first week of the festival, and the official website has photos from Pennsylvania Ballet's 'Swan Lake'.

However, it would seem that the major dance performances would be at risk if the funding shortfall cannot be resolved.

Kate

Last edited by ksneds on Sat Jul 30, 2005 10:22 am, edited 2 times in total.

ONE of the Edinburgh International Festival’s main venues will be deserted this year unless an 11th-hour funding plea is answered, organisers have warned.

Festival director Brian McMaster is threatening to scrap productions in one of the city’s top theatres unless the council and the Scottish Executive agree to plug a £600,000 shortfall in the next few days.

The Edinburgh Festival won its battle for more public money … but at a cost. Is the politicians’ desire to win wider audiences at odds with its artistic vision? By Senay Boztas for The Sunday Herald:

DURING a reception at Edinburgh Castle last month, culture minister Patricia Ferguson found herself surrounded by local people, crowding in to take a look at the Crown Jewels. Those same local people, she believes, sometimes fail to discover another cultural treasure nestling in their midst: the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), which launches next week. The new minister is not a “bum-counter”, equating cultural significance with seat sales. But while she stresses her belief in the artistic quality of the EIF programme, she thinks some events should be more attractive to more people.

“There are two priorities,” she explains . “One is excellence: the Festival has a marvellous reputation, and I don’t want to see that diminish. But also, we want to make sure that we are able to encourage people to come along to performances.”

PABallet has announced that they will be attending the Edinburgh Festival this summer and they will be dancing Wheeldon's new "Swan Lake" . IT is a gourgeous and inventive production with amazing dancing to match the incredibly inventive sets, lighting and costuming! However, I was hoping that they would be bringing a program of mixed rep along with them as well which would allow PAB to show their many talents and versatility. They will be dancing the first week of the festival according to the information I was sent by the company.

Highlights include • Nuts CocoNuts, an English-language version of Jordi Milan’s Spanish hit • The works of Irish playwright JM Synge performed in a single day • Scottish Opera’s The Death of Klinghoffer, based on a cruise ship hijacking murder; • Blackbird, a "darkly intense" new play by Scot David Harrower; • Swan Lake, touted as the pick of the dance programme; • The BBC SSO's opening gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem

It will mean that the nation's ballet and opera companies appear together at the festival for the first time since 1980. Last night, Mr Page said: "We are absolutely thrilled that Scottish Ballet has been invited to the Edinburgh International Festival as it is one of the leading events in the international arts calendar.

Completing the triumvirate of Royal Ballet School boys is David Dawson. Whereas Page stayed in the UK and Wheeldon headed for the US, Dawson has concentrated his efforts in Europe, becoming a dominant force at Dutch National Ballet. The Amsterdam-based company is renowned for producing narrative ballets and modern classics with equal aplomb.

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